HRW Says Russian Police Harass Norwegian TV Crew In Sochi

Workers install the Olympic logo at the railway station in Sochi on October 29.

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HRW Says Russian Police Harass Norwegian TV Crew In Sochi

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A rights group says police in southern Russia detained, harassed, and threatened to imprison two Norwegian television journalists who were on a reporting trip to Sochi, planned site of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on November 5 that authorities "repeatedly detained and questioned the crew" from Norway's TV2 television over a period of three days.

HRW says that between October 31 and November 2, reporters Oystein Bogen and Aage Aunes were stopped by Russian traffic police six times in Russia's Republic of Adygea, just north of Sochi.

It says the two were detained three times and were "aggressively questioned" about their work in Sochi.

One official threatened Bogen with jail.

HRW said in a statement that the treatment dealt to the Norwegian reporters "should shock the International Olympic Committee" and urged the IOC to demand "a full explanation" from Russian authorities.